1. Field of the Invention
Methods and apparatuses consistent with the present invention relate to automatically setting a time, and more particularly, to automatically setting a time zone and a daylight saving time (DST) based on a current time previously input to a digital broadcast receiver and a time transmitted to the digital broadcast receiver.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating a conventional method for setting a time in a digital television.
Referring to FIG. 1, a command to display time information is first input (S11). That is, a command to display information about a current time is input to the digital television.
A determination is then made as to whether time information is transmitted to and received at the digital television (S13). The determination as to whether the time information is transmitted to the digital television is made based on whether a broadcast signal received by the digital television includes the time information, i.e., whether the broadcast signal includes a packet identification (PID) indicating the time information.
If the digital television receives the broadcast signal including the time information, a determination is made as to whether a time zone is set in the digital television (S15). Here, the time zone refers to a zone (i.e., a geographic region) in which the same time is used. Time zones are generally centered on meridians of a longitude that is a multiple of 15°. Since the time information transmitted to the digital television is a standard time with no time difference corresponding to the time zone applied thereto, a determination as to whether to apply a time difference corresponding to the time zone to the transmitted time information is made based on whether such a time zone is set in the digital television. The time zone is set by a user via a time zone setup menu selected from among function menus of the digital television. Using the time zone setup menu, the user selects a given time zone from among displayed time zones. The time difference corresponding to the selected time zone will be applied to the transmitted time information to thereby calculate a current time.
If the time zone is set, it is applied to calculate the current time (S17). For example, if the time zone is set as Bangkok, the current time is calculated by adding two hours to the transmitted time information since the time difference corresponding to the time zone is −2 hours. If the time zone is not set, a default time zone is applied to calculate the current time (S19).
A determination is then made as to whether information about a daylight saving time (DST) is received by the digital television and the DST is set in the digital television (S21). Here, the DST precedes a standard time of a given zone by one hour to effectively utilize a longer daylight time in summer.
If the information on the DST is received by the digital television and the DST is set in the digital television, a current time is calculated by applying the DST, i.e., by subtracting one hour from a time obtained through application of the time difference corresponding to the time zone (S23).
Subsequently, in response to receiving a command to display time information, the calculated time information is displayed (S25). If the DST is not set in the digital television in S21, time information is displayed to which only the time difference corresponding to the time zone has been applied.
Meanwhile, if the time information is not transmitted to and received at the digital television in S13, a message is displayed indicating that there is no time information, in response to receiving the command to display the time information (S27).
In this conventional time setting method, a user has to manually input the time zone and/or set the DST. If the user does not have sufficient knowledge about the time zone or DST, he or she may set a wrong time zone or DST. Setting the wrong time zone or DST causes the user to continue to obtain time information with the wrong time zone or DST applied thereto.
For example, if a user sets the digital television to be automatically turned on or off, the ON/OFF operation of the digital television is performed based on a time set in the digital television. In this case, setting the wrong time zone or DST causes the ON/OFF operation of the digital television to be performed based on a time different from the current time of a region where the digital television is located. Accordingly, the ON/OFF operation of the digital television is not performed at a time desired by the user.
Similarly, when the user desires to obtain an electronic program guide (EPG), he or she will obtain information about a broadcast program schedule based on the time set in the digital television. Accordingly, setting the incorrect time zone or DST causes a user to obtain an electronic program guide different from a desired broadcast program guide or to obtain no electronic program guide.